Christmas is already here, to the joy of many and the melancholy of many others. Although few know it, in fact the origins of this celebration refer to death and rebirth. Before becoming one of the symbols of Christianity, pagan civilizations celebrated this time of year because it represented the arrival of light after the long winter night. In fact, during this period the days are shorter and the darkness prevails over the light, so Christmas would be the ideal time to immerse ourselves and try to understand what kind of person we have become over the course of the year. It should promote inner research and be an opportunity for change and rebirth. But at some point in history everything went wrong, Christmas was filled with contradictions and transformed into the celebration of consumerist frenzy, so for many people, a period that should be one of peace, reflection and rebirth, turns into a repeating ordeal. Year after year. Although many have a hard time recognizing it. And the reasons are many: 1. The gifts. A gift must be given without expecting anything in return, simply because we are happy to make this gesture and make someone happy or surprise them. However, Christmas is not like that, it is rather an exchange of gifts (often useless and rather ugly), which only serves to make many people feel under pressure who feel obliged to reciprocate with a gift of similar value, even if not economically if. they can allow it.2. The obligation to be happy. Sales of antidepressants increase by 40% during the Christmas period. While some let themselves be carried away by the colors, enjoy the Christmas lights and listen to Christmas carols with a smile, for others this “imposed” happiness is simply unbearable. Loneliness, the memory of those who are no longer or only the expectation of having to be happy that one has at this moment, not only generates sadness, but real anguish.
3. The Christmas songs. I don't have a beautiful voice and I don't sing well at all, but I like listening to good music, I love music and I don't compromise on it. Therefore, Christmas carols make me shiver, and nauseous. And the worst thing is that some reasons (especially the most catchy ones) can stay in the head for hours, they are annoying refrains that repeat themselves as if it were a scratched record.
4. I riti. Rituals are beautiful as long as we understand their origin and can avoid them when we wish. The rites that have been culturally handed down, those of which we do not find the meaning, are just a straitjacket. And Christmas is full of rituals that are repeated year after year, in front of which family and friends declare you persona non grata if you have the courage to propose to change them. The rituals are comforting, but sometimes you just want to change. And we should have the freedom to do so.
5. The Christmas decorations. I like Christmas lights, they lend a festive air to the environment and can also convey joy. But since Christmas is the perfect time to foster excesses, most people use this pretext to bring out their kitschy side, the one that was more or less hidden throughout the year. As a result, and at best, Christmas lights turn into an offense to the aesthetic sense, at worst, they end up damaging the retina.
6. Religious conflicts. Christmas is a time of peace, but we forget it when we persist in clinging to the rites. Then parents appear who do not want their children to sing multicultural songs in which verses appear in Arabic, then come the atheists who do not want their children to sing Christian songs and Catholics who throughout the year had forgotten that it existed. the Church and have never read a verse from the Gospel in their whole life, that now they would like to hear Adestes Fideles singing as they know their life depended on it and they get angry if in the school where their children go they do not sing Christian Christmas songs -Catholic. In short, let's draw a merciful veil on the question ...7. Pretend everything is fine. At Christmas everyone wishes us happy holidays, even those we don't know and have no intention of knowing. A colleague who has made life impossible for us all year round smiles at us. The excuse for the sudden softening is that we must all be better. So we feel guilty if we fail to respond with the same enthusiasm and show a face that no one could mistake for an authentic “Duchenne smile”. Of course, I have nothing against ironing out old grudges and trying to be better people, the problem is that this attitude is as ephemeral as Christmas. And this is not called change, but hypocrisy.
8. The obligation to be accompanied. At Christmas everyone asks you what you will do and with whom. And if you tell them that you will stay at home, alone (or rather, that you will enjoy your company) they cannot suppress a micro expression that betrays pity. So you end up having pity for yourself. After all, many equal micro expressions can't be wrong, can they? And in that case, chances are you end up in a party you didn't want to be at to avoid a loneliness that didn't bother you before, but that made you think there must be something wrong with you if you are alone in these moments of relaxation. party. However, I think that Christmas is not a sufficient reason not to apply the famous saying: “better alone than in bad company”.
9. Pre-packaged greetings. I am referring to those prepackaged postcards that you choose with your eyes closed and then send them to practically all the contacts in the address book, just to make a good impression. And while we're at it, we can also include those uncomfortable wishes from all the various "exes", people you haven't seen for centuries but who ironically remember you with a trivial message that they probably sent to 100 or perhaps more contacts. Postcards and greetings that are irrelevant, but that cause us to ask ourselves: "But do I really have to answer?"10. The excesses. Excess food, excess alcohol, excess (and unnecessary) gifts, excessive lights, excessive consumption, excessive Christmas carols… At Christmas, everything takes on enormous proportions, even if we don't know exactly why. In fact, you've probably sung John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Xmas" without knowing when and why it was written. This song is from 1971 and was written to protest the Vietnam War. The text should make us reflect on the fact that, while we spend money and dedicate ourselves to absolutely avoidable excesses, in other parts of the world there is always someone who dies of war or famine, even a little because of us. Anyway, Merry Christmas to all! Take advantage of this moment to look within yourself, to spend time with the people who really care about you and do those things that you are really passionate about. Only then will Christmas make sense.
